


Five Gold Rings

by GunBunnyCentral



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: Bering And Wells Holiday Gift Exchange, F/F, holiday fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-26
Updated: 2014-12-26
Packaged: 2018-03-03 17:41:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2859380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GunBunnyCentral/pseuds/GunBunnyCentral
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times Helena tried to propose over the holidays and the one time she finally succeeded…</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Gold Rings

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Bering And Wells Holiday Gift Exchange](http://bering-and-wells-exchange.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Happens in some weird quasi-AU where Season 4 and Season 5 never happened, and whatever they did to restore the Warehouse post-Sykes worked brilliantly with no downside…

Helena had returned to the Warehouse - and to Univille - with a plan. Unlike the original plan that had brought her to the same place two years earlier, however, this particular scheme did not involve ending civilization as the human race knew it.

This plan had one very simple, benign goal - proposing to to her girlfriend at some point over the Christmas holidays, preferably *before* the two of them left for Colorado to celebrate the new year with Myka's parents, sister, and other family.

Unfortunately for Helena's timetable, the universe seemed dead set against any sort of Christmas proposal.

Oh, things had started out promisingly enough, to be sure. Helena's reception upon her arrival at Leena's had been nothing short of joyous. Any bad blood that might have lingered had been long gone for ages already, and her friends - her *family*, if she were being completely honest - were more than ready to see her finally back home with them to stay.

Helena had been a little nervous, quite frankly - she'd been rushing around like mad to get her various assignments finished in time to get home for the holidays, and it hadn't left much time for her to truly process that she was now off probation and fully reinstated as an agent. The flight back to Sioux Falls had been surprisingly loud and festive, offering little time for personal reflection, and she'd spent the drive out to Univille focused on driving safely in the winter weather.

Univille, looking more quaint and charming than ever with its decorations and its layer of winter snow, had been a welcome sight after that long drive. Leena's Bed And Breakfast had been even more so - she'd sat there in the car staring at the building in all its warm, glowing, perfectly decorated glory and simply reveled in the feeling of finally coming home to stay, once and for all.

That hadn't kept her from hearing Claudia's happy shouting from just inside the front door, and she could picture exactly what was happening inside - Claudia, rushing pell mell from whichever window she'd been watching out of to go tell the others that Helena had arrived, and probably barreling right over anyone unfortunate enough to be in her way.

The image put a smile on Helena's face as she stepped out of the car - a smile that only widened as Claudia threw open the door and rushed down the steps, her momentum nearly knocking both herself and Helena down as she threw her arms around Helena in a fierce hug that might have cracked a rib or two had Claudia been a little stronger.

Pete was right behind Claudia - no doubt having made a failed attempt to hold Claudia back, or at least slow her down a little - and his genuinely happy smile put any unspoken, lingering doubts Helena might have about his acceptance of her to rest. Knowing better than to try and pry her away from Claudia just yet, Pete settled for a verbal greeting and an awkward version of a ridiculous handshake he'd taught her ages ago.

Leena and Steve were the next out - Steve hastened down the porch stairs to offer his own greeting and to help Pete gather up Helena's bags from the trunk of the car. Leena, for her part, favored Helena with one of her serene and enigmatic smiles - Helena had missed those greatly, to be honest - as she stayed on the porch, laughing a little as Steve managed to rein Claudia back in by volunteering her to help carry a bag or two inside.

Then the door opened one more time, and everything and everyone around Helena simply faded away into the background as Myka stepped out onto the porch. There was a weird sort of hesitation to Myka's movements as she walked across the porch and down the steps, finally stopping right in front of Helena.

They simply stood staring into each other's eyes without a single word for what felt like an eternity, their identical expressions conveying everything they couldn't bring themselves to say. _Is this real? Are you really here for good, never to leave again if you can help it?_

Once they were satisfied that the answer to all their unspoken questions was a resounding yes - that neither of them was an illusion that would simply melt away - they stepped into a hug that left no room to speak of between them. That was followed a heartbeat or two later by another glance at each other's smiling faces, and that was swiftly followed by a kiss that made rather a nice start at catching up on all the kisses their random separations had denied them.

By the time Leena called them back to the rest of the larger world - just a quiet clearing of her throat so as not to jar them, and a grin that said she liked whatever she was currently seeing in their auras - everyone else had already gone back inside. Leena would have as well, no doubt, but she'd timed dinner to be ready upon Helena's arrival - no point in asking how, it was just something Leena did - and wanted to make sure her two lovestruck charges didn't linger in the snow while their food got cold.

Dinner was a loud and raucous affair, exactly as Helena remembered them being - even the normally quiet Steve jumped in with gusto when Pete and Claudia started singing silly, humorous versions of various Christmas carols. Myka didn't join in the singing - not that anyone would have expected her to - but she fell back into her usual role of annoyed elder sister without missing a beat.

It was beautiful, and it was perfect, and Helena loved of every moment of it. Of course, she was also so intent on starting the next phase of her plan that it was all she could do to rein in her impatience and simply enjoy a meal with family - and, to be fair, she did an excellent job hiding that from a table full of trained investigators.

Only Leena - perhaps because she was actually one of Helena's co-conspirators - was able to see through it and sense Helena's impatience. Manufacturing an excuse of some sort - Helena wasn't really paying much attention to the specifics of it - Leena finally managed to buy them a few private moments together in the kitchen to discuss the next step in Helena's plan.

"No one can hear us," Leena said after a moment, with a conspiratorial grin Helena couldn't help returning. The equally conspiratorial glint in Leena's eye was probably just as contagious. "The rings are back at the Warehouse in Artie's office - Pete and Claudia go poking around for presents and I didn't want them to know until you said it was okay."

That was actually a brilliant idea - even if Pete and Claudia suspected some present or other was hidden away in Artie's office, they wouldn't dare invade Artie's privacy just to go digging around for it, not when it was Artie's _sanctum sanctorum_. It also had one other benefit, at least from Leena's perspective, and Helena smiled again as she acknowledged the neatly-laid trap. "It also ensures I have to speak with Artie directly, and soon."

Leena just grinned at her, not even remotely ashamed or chastened. Helena couldn't deny that Leena had a point - Helena and Artie had long since declared a detente in the wake of Helena's near-sacrifice during Walter Sykes' invasion of the Warehouse, and during the arduous months Helena had spent proving herself afterward, but they'd never actually *talked* about any of it, and probably never would unless forced to it.

Artie, it turned out, had been absent from dinner due to a rather lengthy video conference with the Regents - and not as some sort of protest against Helena's return, as part of Helena still half-feared - and so Helena offered to take over the meal Leena had assembled for him. No one questioned the need for Helena to make sure all her assignment paperwork was in order, or Helena's unspoken need to talk with Artie alone for a moment or two before she officially settled back into her place at Leena's.

Helena's timing was impeccable - the teleconference ended just as she walked quietly into Artie's office, and Artie gave her a rare warm smile when he saw her that immediately settled most of her unease. She smiled in return and held out the plate. "Leena asked me to bring you your dinner."

They traded, then - Artie's folder with her orders and paperwork for the plate full of food - and they both settled into a surprisingly comfortable silence broken only by the strains of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker coming from the room's sound system. They both also finished their respective tasks at around the same time, so they ended up trading again.

Artie grinned at Helena then - actually grinned at her, with no trace of sarcasm or grumpiness - and his eyes held the same conspiratorial glint that Leena's had earlier. "Let me get the rings. They look - well, see for yourself."

A moment later, and Helena's breath caught in her throat as her eyes started to sting with unshed, albeit happy, tears. When Helena had decided that the time had come to propose to Myka, she'd thought longingly of her own parents and how happy they had been together - Leena's discovery that the items willed to Helena upon her parents' eventual death, including her mother's engagement and wedding rings and her father's signet ring, had somehow been tucked away among her other effects had been an unexpected blessing.

It was clearly a most excellent omen, and there had been nothing for it but that the rings be restored and resized for Helena and her own prospective bride. Leena was friends with an amazingly talented jeweler in Univille, and Helena had gratefully left the arrangements up to her, unable to help being fearful that the process would somehow go terribly wrong. She'd been absolutely right to trust Leena, of course, and the proof of that struck an unexpected chord,

Her mother's engagement ring was gold, a round ruby in its center surrounded by small round diamonds so that it resembled a tiny flower. Having been carefully cleaned and resized for Myka's somewhat smaller finger, it now glittered and gleamed like new - it was perfect beyond any measure Helena had dared hope for, and she knew Myka would love it.

Helena had also decided to take her father's signet ring - one Helena had always greatly admired, simple yellow gold engraved with a flowing W for Wells - for her own wedding ring. Testing it, she found that it fit her finger perfectly, and that its weight on her hand somehow felt exactly right.

The third ring - Helena's mother's wedding ring, a slightly more ornate variation on the engagement ring - had simply been cleaned and would be set aside someplace safe for now. It could easily be resized for Myka should she decide to use it as her wedding ring, but Helena didn't want to presume without allowing Myka the choice first.

Even amidst all the change and emotion and uncertainty, Helena had never wavered in her feeling that proposing to Myka was exactly the right thing to do, or in her conviction that Myka would happily accept - after everything they'd been through with and for each other, there had never been any question that they were fully and deeply committed to one another. Even so, seeing the rings had left Helena too full of emotion to verbalize any of it.

Artie surprised her by reaching out to squeeze her arm sympathetically. When she didn't freeze up or pull away, he surprised her yet again by pulling her in for the hug she so desperately needed just then. That didn't make it any less awkward once they parted, of course, but they were able to laugh with each other about it even as Helena dashed the unshed tears from her eyelashes.

"We've come a long way," Artie said finally. "I was wrong about you and I should have said so a long time ago."

Helena just shook her head. "You were exactly right about me, as I was back then - I was a danger to myself and to everyone else. I'm just grateful that all of you were here to bring me back to myself - especially after everything I did."

Artie reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "You've redeemed yourself, Helena, and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. Especially a grumpy old jackass like me."

That hit the desired mark, and Artie smiled as Helena chuckled at him. Then he put on a mock-serious face. "Now, as Myka's surrogate parent here at the Warehouse, I do have to give you the obligatory warning about breaking her heart."

"I'm afraid you'd have to line up behind Pete and Claudia for that," Helena replied with a wry smile. "You may consider me duly warned."

The unspoken addendum to that statement was that no one would ever be able to punish Helena any harder than Helena herself should things ever go awry with Myka. Artie acknowledged this with another squeeze to Helena's shoulder, then steered the conversation toward more mundane topics as a test of their newly official accord.

Over the moments that followed, they moved those last few steps from colleagues to friends, with clear groundwork laid for one day acknowledging themselves as family. It felt good, and set the tone for the wonderful evening that followed.

Flush with excitement and anticipation as she pocketed the engagement ring and headed back to Leena's, Helena even thought to herself that proposing would simply be a matter of finding the proper moment at some suitably romantic place.

She wasn't wrong, exactly - just a little naive, perhaps, in forgetting to factor in the sense of humor every Warehouse agent knew the universe to possess.

To be fair, that sense of humor wasn't immediately in evidence. She and Myka spent the evening helping the others finish decorating the tree - Helena found herself strangely touched that they'd waited to finish simply so she could join them - before retiring upstairs the instant it was no longer ridiculously early.

Helena still had her own room upstairs - she and Myka would definitely have to discuss that at some later point - but Myka's room was closer, and Helena had always felt more comfortable there than in her own quarters. Already tugging at each other's clothes, they stopped only to laugh a little at how well everyone knew them both when they almost tripped over Helena's luggage.

The sex was fantastic - not that they'd had any concern that it wouldn't be - and seemingly endless, neither of them bothering to hide or moderate their need to make up for all the separations they'd endured over the last few months. Neither of them was the least bit embarrassed to find that the volume on the tv downstairs had been turned way up while they'd been so lost in each other.

It got shifted back down again after they'd laid there talking quietly for several minutes, which they both had a good laugh about - it was entirely possible that Pete was onto something with his endless jokes about ear plugs.

It was the sort of idyllic and ridiculously normal moment that Warehouse agents rarely ever saw, much less got to actually appreciate, and Helena suddenly knew exactly what to do with it - she was even able to quietly dig the ring box out of her purse with a minimum of movement. "Myka, darling, there's something I've been wanting to ask you…"

Her statement was met by the sound of Myka's slow, steady, even breathing, and Helena just rolled her eyes heavenward in mock exasperation as she realized Myka was sound asleep. Amused - and rapidly fading herself - Helena returned to ring box to her purse, turned off the light, and drifted off to some of the best sleep she could ever remember having.

Both happy and well-rested, Helena traded teasing barbs and jests with Pete and Claudia over breakfast, even as she began working out a new proposal attempt. They were all planning to go ice skating later, and a natural, snow-covered lake seemed a likely enough setting.

It was, indeed - the previous day and night's snowfall had left the lake and its shores an endless field of pristine white. There was even a perfect moment as Helena and Myka had slipped away from the others to make out under one of the trees.

If Claudia had waited just a few more seconds before spraining her ankle, Helena might actually have gotten the words out.

Still optimistic - and exceedingly determined - Helena decided to try again the next day, even though she had a little work to do in one of the Warehouse labs. She got it into her head to do something a little more traditional this time - a romantic evening out, ending in her proposal - and got so engrossed in planning the evening out that she accidentally mixed the wrong chemicals together.

Neither she nor Claudia were harmed by the impromptu smoke bomb she created - it was, in fact, quite spectacular and quite hilarious to them both, especially since it was somehow colored red and green - but Helena spent the evening and a good part of her night cleaning up the lab they'd been working in.

The next day was even worse, though not through any distraction or carelessness on Helena's part. She and Pete were sent out on a minor retrieval, and it went ridiculously sideways, ending with them both getting whammied - the artifact wasn't lethal, but it left them both feeling ill enough to wish it had been.

Artifact flu, Vanessa called it after examining them both - in no way contagious, or life threatening, but not something she could negate for them. The only choice they had was to wait out the twenty four hours it would take for the symptoms to wear off.

Even Vanessa's best efforts weren't able to ease the symptoms much, and there was more than one moment where Helena was sure Pete would happily join her in another go with the Minoan Trident to end their mutual suffering - if they could only get out of their respective sickbeds long enough.

Helena felt much improved by morning, fortunately, though it was now Christmas Eve and she was running very short on time if she wanted to propose before she and Myka left for Colorado in two days. She really didn't like the idea of trying to propose with Myka's non-Warehouse family surrounding them both, but she was beginning to suspect she'd have no choice.

By noon, she actually felt more or less normal again - albeit very tired and weak, and unable to do much beyond sitting quietly in the Warehouse library with Myka looking after her. It was actually rather pleasant, all things considered, and, after some thought, she managed to get Leena to bring her the ring in case an opportune moment showed up.

Several did - and each and every one of them was interrupted by someone stopping by to check up on her. Once the day passed into evening, and then into night, she just gave up trying.

By Christmas morning, Helena was at her wits end. She woke shortly before dawn - courtesy of all the naps the day before - and decided to get out of bed when she heard Leena in the hall, figuring she could occupy herself with helping Leena in the kitchen until Myka woke and came downstairs.

As soon as she moved to get out of bed, though, Myka shifted and pulled her close. "It's just Leena. She'll wake us up in a little while if she needs us."

Helena glanced over at the window, seeing the sky just beginning to lighten, and then considered the feel of a warm, sleepy, but still awake Myka wrapped around her. It was as perfect a moment as any of the others that had presented themselves, and she quickly made her move.

Her nervousness made her fumble as she tried to get the ring box out of her purse without getting out of bed - knocking her purse and it contents onto the floor, though thankfully out of Myka's line of sight - and Myka lifted up onto one elbow to look at her, no longer quite so asleep. "Are you okay, Helena?"

Helena smiled at her reassuringly. "I'm fine, darling - fully recovered. Just… give me a moment?"

Myka just arched an eyebrow, then settled back into a more comfortable position as she watched Helena gather up her purse and its spilled contents without really being able to see any of it. She also watched as Helena quickly ran a brush through her hair before putting on her favorite silk robe - it was clear that she knew Helena was up to something, but could tell it was nothing that she should feel worry or alarm over.

Finally feeling as prepared as she was ever going to be, Helena knelt back down beside the bed, keeping the ring box out of sight. She allowed herself another moment to stare at her adorably sleep-tousled girlfriend, then finally got to do what she'd spent the last several days trying to do. "Myka, darling - there's something I've been wanting to ask you ever since I got home the other day."

She held up the opened ring box, finally, not even realizing that the odd combination of excitement and frustration from the last few days was giving her the most adorable puppy-dog expression as she peered over the small box at Myka. "Will you marry me?"

Myka, caught somewhere between laughter and tears, nodded emphatically as she reached for the ring. "Yes. Yes, I will!"

Slipping the ring on Myka's finger required touching Myka, and kissing Myka, and - well, they barely made it downstairs in time for breakfast.

The announcement of their engagement at the breakfast table was met with all kinds of happy laughing and chattering, and Helena slipped into the kitchen to grab herself some tea while everyone was oohing and ahhing over Myka's engagement ring.

She was enjoying having the first few sips of her tea in relative quiet when Pete wandered in to grab more juice from the refrigerator. Grinning, he popped Helena affectionately on the arm. "Grats, HG. What took you so long?"


End file.
